Jury Finds Samsung Infringed Apple's Patents, Awards $1.05 Billion

A jury awarded Apple more than $1.05 billion in damages after ruling that Samsung infringed on a number of patents held by Apple. In a decision that took just 21 hours to reach, the jury determined that a good portion of Samsung's mobile portfolio, including the Galaxy Tab, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Prevail, Galaxy S II, The Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish and Vibrant, all used intellectual property owned by Apple.

In April, Apple sued Samsung for patent infringement to the tune of $2.5 billion, and the Samsung counter-sued Apple for $519 million.

Among the patents that Apple claimed were infringed upon were technologies such as the "bounce-back" feature when trying to scroll past the end of a document; double-tapping to enlarge a photo or document; being able to distinguish between single-touch scroll and pinch-to-zoom; and the front face of a phone, as embodied by the iPhone.

The 9-person jury deliberated for just under two days, which surprised many given the complexity and sheer size of the case; there were around 700 individual decisions the jury needed to consider.

When it came to Samsung's counter-suit, the jury found that Apple did not violate any of Samsung's patents, and as a result, did not award any damages to the Seoul-based company.

The jury also determined that Samsung is barred from enforcing two patents relating to the 3G standard against Apple, and that the company violated the Sherman Antitrust Act as it pertained to the UMTS standard.

While Apple was awarded less than half of the damages it was seeking, the jury ruled largely in its favor. What is now left to be seen is if Apple will move to block sales of the devices in question, or come to licensing terms with Samsung.